The Bread Experiment

The smell of freshly baked bread is instant happiness for me, and back in the day when I was young and naive I imagined that one day my home would be filled with that same satisfying scent every morning. Of course that never happened - until today.

I finally found the time and energy to give the most basic of loaves a try using the following recipe from BBC Good Food. I chose it mainly because it has 'easy' in the title and because it lists olive oil and honey amongst its ingredients - a combination I find attractive when it comes to bread.

It's so easy I even had time to dance with my three-month-old in the kitchen to the sounds of the Flashback Cafe, and then pick up my 6 year old from school (while it was rising).

The inside of my oven.

The result was aroma-filled, tasty and texturous.

Bread in Four Easy Steps

500g wholewheat or white flour
2 1/2 tsp fast-action dried yeast
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp honey


1. Put flour, yeast and salt into a large bowl and mix together with your hands. Stir 300ml hand-hot water with the oil and honey, then mix into the dry ingredients to make a soft dough.

2. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for 5 mins, until it no longer feels sticky - sprinkle with a little more flour if needed.

3. Grease a loaf tin with oil and put the dough in, pressing it down to even it out. Put in a large plastic food bag and leave to rise for 1 hr, until the dough has risen to fill the tin and it no longer springs back when you press it with your finger.

4. Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Make a few slashes across the top of the loaf with a sharp knife, and bake for 30-35 mins until the loaf is risen and golden. Tip it out onto a cooling rack and tap the base of the bread to check it is cooked. It should sound hollow. Leave to cool.

Easy Like a Friday Morning

From a very nice lady's Kitchen in the Rockies to my humble abode in Cairo - I give you Cinnamon Bun Bread on a Friday morning, for breakfast - Oh Yes!

Dough:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp active dry yeast
2/3 cup warm milk (blast in microwave for 20 seconds)
3 tbs oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
Salt ( I used 1/4 tsp)

Filling:
3 tbs butter at room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of ground cardamom (I didn't have any)

For the icing, mix:
1 cup icing sugar
1-2 tbs milk

• Lightly grease a square 8x8 pan (I overdid this and got a bit of an oily base - plus I only had a round pan)
• Combine flour, sugar, salt in a bowl
• Dissolve yeast in the warm milk in a jug
• Stir milk mixture, oil, vanilla and egg into flour mixture
• Mix until very smooth
• Pour into pan and let it rest for 15 minutes
• Mix butter, brown sugar and cinnamon until all the butter is incorporated into the sugar and is crumbly (Did this with my hands)
• Sprinkle evenly over the dough and press the mixture down 
• Place into a cold oven - then set to 350 F (I used 180 C)
• Bake 30 minutes - is done when centre springy to touch and edges are browned
• Cool for at least 30 mins before drizzling the icing onto the bread
• Serve warm with a big smile :)

Orange Almond Yogurt Cake

It's been a while. Since my last post many things have happened here in Cairo - not least A REVOLUTION!

Oh yeah and I had a baby :) But that doesn't mean that I haven't been baking - in fact I discovered that I bake more when things are getting stressy... such as that very scary night mid-revolution when the police withdrew from the city - but those are details for another post that involves rice pudding.

Speaking of baby-having, here's a pic of what I mad the day before I went into hospital which doesn't count as a recipe since I used a cake mix, whipped up some cream and added a luscious strawberry on top.

Then came Valentines Day, and I was skint! So I decided, the way to a man's heart must be through his stomach - especially my husband’s - so I lovingly baked a batch of chocolate cupcakes, or Love Cakes as they came to be known. Again using a recipe from my favourite baking site Joy of Baking (JoB) - they came out quite cute looking, especially considering that I was too lazy to make a frosting and decided to decorate them using a stencil and icing sugar instead - although as far as chocolate cupcakes go I have a sneaking suspicion that a better tasting recipe can be found - the search is on. (Sorry JoB.)

In another exciting cookery update (that sounds quite scary) I got a new cookbook freshly delivered by Amazon in the post, mid-revolution, which makes me feel quite proud of the Egyptian Postal Service! The book is by the domestic goddess herself - Nigella Lawson and is called Nigella Kitchen, needless to say I have been studying it heavily at every opportunity i.e. between feedings and nappy changings and doings of 6-yr old homework, only raising my head from its pages momentarily to complain about hubby's excessive laptop use.

From this I made two types of muffin - Chocolate Banana and Apple Cinnamon, both of which were extremely tasty and eaten immediately, hence why there are no pictures. A batch of Everyday Brownies also went down a treat - smothered in vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce no less.

Most recently however, and in another one of my compulsive 'must bake at 10 o'clock at night' fits - I tried a recipe I found on the Smitten Kitchen blog for Lemon Yogurt Anything Cake, which I adapted till the cows came home, and until it evolved into Orange Almond Yogurt Cake, I had a lot of oranges calling out to me from the fruit bowl. I also ran out of flour midway - so I threw some cornmeal in and am really glad I did.

This I highly recommend:

1 cup flour

0.5 cup cornmeal

2 tsp baking powder

0.5 tsp Maldon sea salt (or ¼ tsp of normal salt)

1 cup vanilla yogurt (I used a single package of yogurt)

0.75 cup sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp grated orange zest

0.5 tsp almond extract

0.5 cup oil

To make icing: Mix icing sugar with freshly squeezed orange juice to preferred consistency.

Follow cooking instructions for Lemon Yogurt Anything Cake OR as follows: 

• Preheat the oven to 350°F (about 180 C). Grease loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease and flour the pan.
• Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.
• In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, eggs, zest, almond extract and oil.
• Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 (+) minutes, or until a toothpick placed in the center of the cake comes out clean.
• Meanwhile, mix icing sugar with orange juice until you get a paste of the consistency you prefer which you can pour or spread over the cake once its done.
• Allow it to cool first in the pan for 10 minutes before flipping onto a cooling rack.

What's Xmas without Gingerbread Men?

I wanted to decorate the tree with cookies this year, and I saw quite a few cute ideas online featuring Gingerbread Men..alas I didn't have a man-shaped cookie cutter - so I improvised and used the shapes I had.

From a whole load of gingerbread recipes I chose one from the joyofbaking.com, just because it was Xmas Eve and my first time to make gingerbread cookies, I wanted the cookies to be ready for Xmas morning, so I didn't have time to try different recipes.

As suggested in the recipe I made the dough and put it in the fridge overnight, this dough is really sticky - so yes that was definitely a good idea. Baking on Xmas morning and eating freshly made cookies was a bonus too.

I didn't make any changes, except I didn't use confectioners frosting and we just made a simple icing using icing sugar, hot water and food colouring.

Gingerbread Men Recipe: 

3 cups (390 grams) all purpose flour 

1/4 teaspoons salt 

3/4 teaspoon baking soda 

2 teaspoons ground ginger 

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature 

1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated white sugar 

1 large egg 

2/3 cup (160 ml) unsulphured molasses 

(To prevent the molasses from sticking to the measuring cup, spray with a non stick vegetable spray.) 

Confectioners Frosting: 

2 cups (230 grams) confectioners sugar (icing or powdered sugar), sifted 

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature 

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 

1 1/2 tablespoons milk or light cream 

Gingerbread Men: 

In a large bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and spices. 

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. 

Add the egg and molasses and beat until well combined. Gradually add the flour mixture beating until incorporated. Divide the dough in half, and wrap each half 

in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours or overnight. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside while you roll out the 

dough. 

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of about 1/4 inch.  Use a gingerbread cutter to cut out the cookies.  With an offset spatula lift the cut out 

cookies onto the baking sheet, placing the cookies about 1 inch (2.54 cm) apart.  If you are hanging the cookies or using as gift tags, make a hole at the top of the cookies with a straw or end of a wooden skewer. 

Bake for about 8 - 12 minutes depending on the size of the cookies.  Small ones will take about 8 minutes, larger cookies will take about 12 minutes.  

They are done when they are firm and the edges are just beginning to brown. 

Remove the cookies from the oven and cool on the baking sheet for about 1 minute.  When they are firm enough to move, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. 

If desired, you can press raisins, currants, or candies into the dough for eyes and buttons while the cookies are still warm.  Otherwise, confectioners frosting can be used to decorate the cookies.  You can also use the icing as a glue to attach candies, raisins, and sprinkles. 

Confectioners Frosting:  In an electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), cream the butter until smooth and well blended. Add the vanilla extract.  With the mixer on low speed, gradually beat in the sugar.  Scrape down the sides of the 

bowl and beater.  Add the milk and beat on high speed until frosting is light and fluffy (about 3-4 minutes).  Add a little more milk if too dry.  Place the frosting in a pastry bag fitted with a decorative tip and decorate the gingerbread 

men as desired. Tint portions of frosting with desired food color. Makes about 3 dozen cookies depending on the size of cookie cutter used. Store in an airtight container. 

Delectable Chocolate Cookies

its xmas time, and Cairo isn't a very christmassy place, so I feel very nostalgic for how xmas felt back when I was growing up in England - the tree, the pressies and of course the food.

in the run up to xmas this year i have decided i will attempt to make some of my xmas presents in the kitchen, this is the first recipe i will try - killing two birds with one stone seeing as my little one has specifically requested that i make him some chocolate cookies today. did i mention that this is my first attempt at making cookies?

the recipe was taken from joyofbaking.com, my favourite baking website. 

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature 

1/2 cup (105 grams) light brown sugar 

1/4 cup (50 grams) white granulated sugar 

1 large egg 

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 

1 cup (130 grams) all purpose flour 

1/4 cup (30 grams) Dutch-processed cocoa powder 

1/2 teaspoon baking powder 

1/8 teaspoon salt 

1 1/2 cups (260 grams) white chocolate chips or chunks 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven.  

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy (2-3 minutes).  

Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until incorporated.  

First sift together the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder, and salt and then add to the butter and egg mixture.  Mix just until incorporated.  Fold in the the chocolate chips. 

Using a small ice cream scoop, or two spoons, place about 1 1/2 tablespoons of batter on the baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches (5 cm) apart. 

Bake for approximately 8 - 10 minutes or until the the cookies are still soft in the center but are firm around the edges.  

Remove from oven and let cookies cool on baking sheet for about 5 minutes before removing the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Makes about 24 - 3 inch round cookies. 

i only made a few changes: i used all brown sugar, i used a lot less chocolate chunks because i didn't have that much chocolate in the cupboard, i'd say about half of the amount mentioned in the recipe - also it wasn't white chocolate.

i don't know why but the recipe didn't yield the intended 24 cookies, and made only 18. i had to cook them for 18 mins rather than 8-10 mins - plus i had to make them into balls with my hands, a bit like making kofta. This was because the dough was too dry to drop off the spoon.

Little One Approval (Very hard to come by)

 But they came out yummy nevertheless :)